China Books - Page 2

The Travels of Marco Polo

Marco Polo

List Price: $29.95 By: Liveright Publishing Corporation Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $16.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Chosen as one of the ten best adventure books of all time by National Geographic Adventure. Liveright is proud to reissue a facsimile of its classic 1926 edition of The Travels of Marco Polo. Beginning from the traditional lyrical Marsden translation, editor Manuel Komroff corrected it against Henry Yule's magisterial two-volume work, including a chapter missing from the Marsden. The artist Witold Gordon created thirty-two two-color woodcut illustrations for the original edition, published again here for the first time in over fifty years. The Travels of Marco Polo remains a wondrous adventure narrative. Chronicling the thirteenth-century world from Venice, his birthplace, to the far reaches of Asia, Marco Polo tells of the foreign peoples he meets as he travels by foot, horse, and boat through places including Persia, the land of the Tartars, Tibet, India, and, most important, China. There he stays at the court of Kublai Khan, venturing to the capital of Beijing and to Shangtu, made immortal in Coleridge's poem "Xanadu." This is a gripping look at a legendary place and time. Two-color illustrations.

China Survival Guide: How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps

Larry Herzberg, Qin Herzberg

Amazon Price: $9.95 List Price: $9.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Stone Bridge Press Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $5.59

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Old China Hand Says This Book is Most Helpful 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Most of the reviews for this book are raves, which it deserves.
The last review, however, mysteriously pans it as a false picture of China. As an old China hand, who still visits China every year, I'm afraid the one negative review is due to the fact that this person only went to Beijing during the Olympics. Not only is Beijing not typical of most of the rest of China, with the most orderly traffic, for instance, but Beijing was really "sanitized" for the Olympics.
Traffic was limited, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were forced to return to their hometowns for the interim, and most Beijingers stayed away due to the giant influx of foreigners. This person hardly saw the "real China".
In any case, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone traveling to China, particularly independent, adventurous ones.

Editorial Review:

This first-ever humorous travel guide on China both dishes the dirt on the myriad travel mishaps that may befall any unsuspecting tourist and explains how to avoid them! Possible danger zones debunked include airports, hotels, hospitals, taxis, and bathrooms. Readers will learn essential skills like how to haggle, exchange currencies, cross the street, decipher menus, say useful phrases in Chinese, and more. The guide comes complete with survival tips on etiquette, a map, and resource lists. Don't leave home for China without it!

Veteran travelers Qin and Larry Herzberg are Chinese language and culture professors at Calvin College in Michigan.

Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 2

Amazon Price: $27.90 List Price: $31.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Columbia University Press Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $10.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For four decades Sources of Chinese Tradition has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin­era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world´s largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary -who edited the first edition in 1960 -and his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day.
Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question.
Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of Sources of Chinese Tradition:
· Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century;
· Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations;
· Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women´s rights, modern science, and literary reform;
· Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society;
· The nationalist revolution -including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek;
· The communist revolution -with central writings by Mao Zedong;
· Works from contemporary China -featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng.
With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today´s most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, Sources of Chinese Tradition will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations.

China (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

Amazon Price: $29.40 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: DK Travel Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $14.73

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A must for any traveler 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The eyewitness travel series is the book of choice for any travel. And the China version doesn't miss.

I traveled to China for vacation 2.5 years ago when I didn't have the Eyewitness guide. I got a good sense of my travels a the time by reading multiple books and asking my guide many questions.

However in my trip this year...I had the Eyewitness guide. It not only strengthened my understanding of the many places, events, and culture which I experienced 2.5 years ago...it prepared me to open my eyes to a whole new world when I traveled in 2007.

What sets DK apart is that it gives you not only practical information...But provide maps/pictures/illustrations which other's cannot present. And this is all that much important for the Western traveler where China is still in the process of fine tuning tourism and how sights are communicated to visitors.

I recommend Eyewitness guides not only for any vacation...but especially for travels to China.

Editorial Review:

The DK travel guide helps you to get the most out of your trip to China, providing expert recommendations as well as detailed practical information. The opening chapter Introducing China maps the country and sets it in its historical and cultural context. Each of the seven regional sections is divided into area chapters that cover from one to three provinces each. Here you will find descriptions of the most important sights with maps, pictures and illustrations. Hotel and restaurant recommendations can be found in Travelers Needs . The Survival Guide contains practical information on everything from transport personal safety.

The River at the Center of the World, Revised: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time

Simon Winchester

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Picador Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $5.69

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Fascinating Collection of Historic Details Traveling Up a River 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I had never read Winchester before. On our recent trip down the Yangtze a fellow traveler was reading this book and recommended it. After reading it I would consider it a rich cultural experience through the history of this river.

Editorial Review:

Rising in the mountains of the Tibetan border, the symbolic heart of China pierces 3,900 miles of rugged country before debouching into the oily swells of the East China Sea. Connecting China's heartland cities with the volatile coastal giant, Shanghai, it has also historically connected China to the outside world through its nearly one thousand miles of navigable waters. To travel those waters is to travel back in history, to sense the soul of China, and Simon Winchester takes us along with him as he encounters the essence of China--its history and politics, its geography and climate as well as engage in its culture, and its people in remote and almost inaccessible places. This is travel writing at its best: lively, informative, and thoroughly enchanting.

Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China

Jen Lin-Liu

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Not yet published By: Mariner Books

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing book! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Once I starting reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It is the story about a Chinese-American who goes to China on a Fulbright scholarship as part of her journalism career and ends up riding her bike down a narrow street to take cooking classes. The story (both humorous and touching) is told through her quest to learn about authentic Chinese cuisine both past and present, home cooking and high end restaurants. One of the many compelling things about the book are the Chinese people we are privileged to meet. It is a very personal portrait of Chinese people of all ages and classes. One memorable moment is when Chairman Wang finally tells about the Cultural Revolution and how it affected her and the people around her. It is heartbreaking to hear about it, but amazing to see how the Chinese people survived and continued their lives. And of course there are the mouth watering recipes peppered through out the book -- favorite recipes from people the author meets along the way -- Beijing-Style Noodles, "The Best" Mapo Tofu, Tea-Infused Eggs, Smashed Cucumbers, Drunken Chicken, Lamb-and-Pumpkin Dumpling Filling -- the list goes on and on. The recipes are why I bought the book, but got so much more. This is a book that I will keep, cherish and use as a cookbook forever.

Editorial Review:

As a freelance journalist and food writer living in Beijing, Jen Lin-Liu already had a ringside seat for China’s exploding food scene. When she decided to enroll in a local cooking school—held in an unheated classroom with nary a measuring cup in sight—she jumped into the ring herself. In Serve the People, Lin-Liu gives a memorable and mouthwatering cook’s tour of today’s China as she progresses from cooking student to noodle-stall and dumpling-house apprentice to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant. The characters she meets along the way include poor young men and women streaming in from the provinces in search of a “rice bowl” (living wage), a burgeoning urban middle class hungry for luxury after decades of turmoil and privation, and the mentors who take her in hand in the kitchen and beyond. Together they present an unforgettable slice of contemporary China in the full swing of social and economic transformation.

The Heart of the World: A Journey to the Last Secret Place

Ian Baker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This is not worthy to read 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I just started to read this book but found that this guy is getting involved in smuglling rare animals in Nepal. Read all the follwing news about this writer. And lets boycot his book!!

1) Police recover illegal treasure trove from house of National Geographic writer

KATHMANDU, May 23 - The Metropolitan Police Crime Division Hanumandhoka Friday said that a police investigation unearthed a large number of wildlife items and artefacts of archaeological significance at a house rented by an American national at Baluwatar in the capital.
Working on a special tip-off, a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Sher Bahadur Basnet on May 17 raided the house of Rajesh Maharjan which was rented by US citizen Ian Baker and recovered the items from the house.

A police statement released during a press conference in the capital today said that the police team recovered the illegal items from Maharjan's house at Kathmandu Metropolitan-4 in Baluwatar.

The statement added that after the recovery Maharjan informed the police that Baker had also stored more items at a rented house owned by one Khewang Norbu in Naxal.

The police have also sealed off Norbu's house.

Police informed that Baker, who has been living in Nepal for the last 24 years, had stored statues of archaeological importance, vestiges of various wild animals including skin, skeleton and statues in the Baluwater residence.

The police have arrested Maharjan, while Baker is still at large.

Reportedly, Baker was a features writer for the National Geographic and News Week magazines.

2)
Illegal items hoarded by American seized

KATHMANDU, May 23 - Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka confiscated dozens of illegally possessed artifacts, idols, wood craft and huge materials of endangered wildlife from the rented apartments of US citizen and legendary writer Ian Baker, who is also a contributor to National Geographic and several other magazines.
Ian Baker, who has been reportedly staying in the country for over 24 years, was found to illegally possess a huge collection of archeologically important materials, including skeletons, statues and skins of wildlife in his two rented apartments located at Naxal and Baluwatar in the capital.

Acting on a special tip-off, a police team raided a house of Rajesh Maharjan at Baluwatar where police recovered a huge cache of such materials.

Police said they arrested house owner Maharjan, who told them that Baker also possessed illegal materials in another rented house at Naxal.

Following the information from Maharjan, who is said to be an aide of Baker, police sealed the house. With the help of experts from Department of Archaeology and Kathmandu District Forest office, it was revealed that those materials were archeologically important, some even dated back to prehistoric times.

On Thursday, police also seized dozens of artifacts, statues, skeletons, skins of wildlife, among other things. Senior Superintendent of Police Upendra Kant Aryal, chief of Metropolitan Police Crime Division, said the recovered materials were one of the largest collections ever confiscated by the police in the country.

However, police said they were yet to ascertain the intention behind collecting those materials. During interrogation, Maharjan told that Baker had gone to Thailand after storing those materials in the house. Police said Baker has been absconding since police raided his two apartments.

The country's law has banned people from possessing, buying and selling archeologically important materials. On the other hand, the CITES (Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna), to which Nepal is a signatory, also terms buying and selling wildlife body parts illegal.

Editorial Review:

The Heart of the World recounts an extraordinary journey into one of the most inaccessible places on earth, and a pilgrimage to the heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan prophecies proclaim that the greatest of beyul, or mystical sanctuaries, lies at the eastern edge of the Himalayas, veiled by a colossal waterfall in the forbidding Tsangpo gorge. After years of investigation, world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker and his National Geographic–sponsored team made worldwide news by finding a magnificent 108-foot-high waterfall—the legendary grail of both Western explorers and Tibetan pilgrims.

Lonely Planet Mongolia

Robert Storey

List Price: $16.95 By: Lonely Planet Publications Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $0.20

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In the past year I have spent six months in rural Mongolia. There is not much choice of guidebooks in English and we are fortunate that Lonely Planet has put out a small book that nevertheless conveys an awful lot of really good information. My copy was in constant use. On my visits to Ulaan Baatar I found the guide to be indispensable. Practically everything worth visiting was listed and described.

For a lot of western travellers, Mongolia will be a fairly daunting experience. The book identifies potential difficulties and suggests how to minimise problems. That being said, Mongolia is a great place to visit - fascinating coutry and wonderful people.

If you are going to Mongolia, "Don't leave home without it!"

Pretty much your only choice.... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This guide is pretty much your only choice when it comes to travel guides of Mongolia. Nevertheless, I found it helpful and up to date everytime I came to rely it during my time in Mongolia.

Mongloia is indeed a huge country and this guide is small, but seemed complete and well researched and presented. Mongolia is indeed a remote place with little in the way of modern conveniences. This book is a good place to start when planning your trip or to find what you are looking for when you are on the road.

Editorial Review:

48 Maps

Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea

Eric Hansen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1978 Eric Hansen found himself shipwrecked on a desert island in the Red Sea. When goat smugglers offered him safe passage to Yemen, he buried seven years' worth of travel journals deep in the sand and took his place alongside the animals on a leaky boat bound for a country that he'd never planned to visit.

As he tells of the turbulent seas that stranded him on the island and of his efforts to retrieve his buried journals when he returned to Yemen ten years later, Hansen enthralls us with a portrait -- uncannily sympathetic and wildly offbeat -- of this forgotten corner of the Middle East. With a host of extraordinary characters from his guide, Mohammed, ever on the lookout for one more sheep to squeeze into the back seat of his car, to madcap expatriates and Eritrean gun runners- and with landscapes that include cities of dreamlike architectural splendor, endless sand dunes, and terrifying mountain passes, Hansen reveals the indelible allure of a land steeped in custom, conflicts old and new, and uncommon beauty.

Iron and Silk

Mark Salzman

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Total reviews: 97 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Qong Fu: skill that transcends mere surface beauty! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"Iron and Silk" is a delightful book and film. I had the pleasure of reading the book awhile ago; but was delighted to see the film in a local Asian film festival in my community.

The author Mark Salzman plays Mark Franklin in the movie of the same name. It is a memoir (a true story) of Mark's travel and teaching experiences in China (Changsha, Hunan Province). The events took place during 1982 - 1984 and Mark became as much of a student of Chinese life, martial arts, calligraphy, tai chi as he was a teacher of the Middle Aged English Teachers (a group of Chinese Russian teachers at the Hunan Medical College who had been told to forget Russian and now learn English).

Mark always wanted to be a Kung Fu master growing up, and he took lessons from a local teacher; but always felt like the smallest kid on the block. From a young age, he loved all things Asian. His mother was a musician and his father a social worker; but he found that he had developed an exceptional talent for the cello. He was admitted to Yale at 16 because of his cello expertise; but soon decided that he would major in Chinese languages and philosophy (again not much of a surprise). As part of a Yale program, he found himself traveling to Changsha, Hunan Province, China to teach English to a group of Chinese Russian teachers who were being asked to retrain. For two (2) years he lived, taught and learned a great deal in China about the Chinese people and also about himself.

He always wanted to study martial arts from a true wushu master and was fortunate enough to find as his teacher, the grand master himself: Pan Qingfu (known as the Iron Fist). Pan was the best in the world and was known as the Iron Fist because he punched a heavy iron plate 10,000 times a day! Mark was also learning Tai Chi and Chinese manners and etiquette from Teacher Wei and calligraphy as well from other teachers.

Mark soon found that "as a student in America, he had searched for ancient wisdom, as a teacher in China, he learned to find it in himself." Mark Salzman, when interviewed, stated: "Learning about another culture doesn't mean you have to reject your own, It allows you to see yourself from another perspective, see your good side and your bad side and appreciate what you have." Some will say that the book and the movie focus on martial arts and in part that is one of the major themes; but the blending and the co-existence of the two cultures in the classroom and in social interactions is illuminating.

There are many humorous and philosophical revelations in both the book and movie. Telling Mark that he has a big nose by saying, "You have a very 3 dimensional face"...is probably the most diplomatic way of stating the obvious. Mark might have been able to name the book, "Let's Make a Regulation" if he wanted to only focus on the difficult aspects he faced in being a foreigner living in China. The Washington Post reviewed that "Salzman demonstrates with skill and subtlety just how China society works."

This Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1987 is dated; but describes the undercurrent that still exists in part today. The movie's script stayed true to the book; yet the movie was shot in Hangzhou and not Changsha. Make sure to stay for the vignettes and movie credits at the end; they are another joyful experience of the film and you will not be disappointed that you waited. Mark found out that happiness was not a simple thing in China and though he valued being well liked and mastering a skill; his Chinese friend felt that "these goals can be achieved easily. All you have to do is to be kind and work hard. But to eat and sleep well that is a difficult wish, because you cannot control these things yourself."

One interesting note is that on the last night of the shooting of the movie, the brutal crackdown occurred in Tiananmen Square (June 3, 1989).

I loved this book and the movie and the delight that two very different cultures shared in learning about each other. All that I can say is "very well done" (Manhaodilei!)

Mark really learned Qong Fu: a skill that transcends mere surface beauty!

Bentley/2007
Iron and Silk

Editorial Review:

Salzman captures post-cultural revolution China through his adventures as a young American English teacher in China and his shifu-tudi (master-student) relationship with China's foremost martial arts teacher.